71 - 80 of 771 results for:
all courses

ANTHRO 101S:Introduction to Cultural and Social Anthropology (ANTHRO 1S)

This course introduces basic anthropological concepts and presents the discipline¿s distinctive perspective on society and culture. The power of this perspective is illustrated by exploring vividly-written ethnographic cases that show how anthropological approaches illuminate contemporary social and political issues in a range of different cultural sites.

The development of high civilizations in Andean S. America from hunter-gatherer origins to the powerful, expansive Inca empire. The contrasting ecologies of coast, sierra, and jungle areas of early Peruvian societies from 12,000 to 2,000 B.C.E. The domestication of indigenous plants which provided the economic foundation for monumental cities, ceramics, and textiles. Cultural evolution, and why and how major transformations occurred.

What does it mean to be a Native American in the 21st century? Beyond traditional portrayals of military conquests, cultural collapse, and assimilation, the relationships between Native Americans and American society. Focus is on three themes leading to in-class moot court trials: colonial encounters and colonizing discourses; frontiers and boundaries; and sovereignty of self and nation. Topics include gender in native communities, American Indian law, readings by native authors, and Indians in film and popular culture.

ANTHRO 126:Urban Culture in Global Perspective (URBANST 114)

Core course for Urban Studies majors. We will study urban space both historically and cross-culturally. Urban Studies, by definition, is an interdisciplinary field, where the methodological approaches draw upon a diverse set of analytic tools. Disciplines that occupy a prominent place in this class are geography, cultural anthropology, sociology, history, media studies, and literature. In this context, we will discuss the importance of cities around the world to the economic, cultural, and political well-being of modern societies and examine how forces such as industrialization, decentralization, and globalization affect the structure and function of cities.

This multidisciplinary course combines different approaches to how GIS and spatial tools can be applied in social science research. We take a collaborative, project oriented approach to bring together technical expertise and substantive applications from several social science disciplines. The course aims to integrate tools, methods, and current debates in social science research and will enable students to engage in critical spatial research and a multidisciplinary dialogue around geographic space.

ANTHRO 132:Religion and Politics in the Muslim World

This course provides an ethnographic examination of religion and politics in the Muslim world. What is the role of Islam in the political life of modern Muslim societies? Conversely, how do modern political powers shape and constrain the terms of religious life? This course takes an anthropological perspective on the study of Islam: our investigations will not focus on the origins of scriptures and doctrines but rather on the use of religious texts and signs in social context and on the political significance of ritual and bodily practices. A major aim of the course is provide students with analytical resources for thinking critically about the history and politics of modern Muslim societies, with a particular focus on issues of religious authority, gender and sexuality, and the politics of secularism.

Over the last twenty years, residents of the People¿s Republic of China have experienced dramatic changes in nearly every facet of life. This undergraduate seminar introduces students to contemporary China through an examination of various types of social transformation. We will analyze how PRC residents of different backgrounds are confronting such processes as economic liberalization, migration, kinship transformation, sexual commodification, media proliferation, industrialization, and transnationalism? Priority is placed on reading, discussing and assessing research that uses qualitative methods and that situates political economy in dialogue with lived experience.

| UG Reqs: WAY-ED, WAY-SI

ANTHRO 147:Nature, Culture, Heritage (ANTHRO 247)

Seminar. Shared histories of natural and cultural heritage and their subsequent trajectories into the present. How thought about archaeological sites and natural landscapes have undergone transformations due to factors including indigenous rights, green politics, and international tourism. The development of key ideas including conservation, wilderness, sustainability, indigenous knowledge, non-renewability and diversity. Case studies draw on cultural and natural sites from Africa, the Americas and Australia.

Last offered: Autumn 2013
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-ED, WAY-SI

ANTHRO 148:Health, Politics, and Culture of Modern China (ANTHRO 248)

One of the most generative regions for medical anthropology inquiry in recent years has been Asia. This seminar is designed to introduce upper division undergraduates and graduate students to the methodological hurdles, representational challenges, and intellectual rewards of investigating the intersections of health, politics, and culture in contemporary China.

Last offered: Autumn 2013
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-ED, WAY-SI

ANTHRO 149:South Asia: History, People, Politics (ANTHRO 249)

The South Asian subcontinent (comprising of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka) is one of the most diverse and densely populated regions in the world and increasingly prominent in new global political and cultural economies. South Asia has also provided the inspiration for cutting edge theories about the colonial state, postcolonial studies, democracy, popular culture, and religious conflict. The course will provide an overview of major historical events and social trends in contemporary South Asia and focus on themes such as gender, religion, caste, migration and movement, new technologies, the urban and rural, the state, and new forms of consumption among others.Thus, the course will give students historically and theoretically informed perspectives on contemporary South Asia, as well as how to apply insights learned to larger debates within the political and social sciences.